Cispes And Fbi Counterterrorism Investigations

The core of this book, written by a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist, documents the wide-ranging FBI assault on CISPES.

How terrorism is portrayed by the news media, and thus perceived by the public, is directly linked to government's foreign policy goals. Steven Livingston demonstrates the complex interactions among the press, the public, and political actors in illuminating a policymaking process that relies on image management as one strategy in achieving policy objectives–not just in combating terrorism but also in handling other foreign policy problems.

Tracing the history of government intrusions on Constitutional rights in response to threats from abroad, Cole and Dempsey warn that a society in which civil liberties are sacrificed in the name of national security is in fact less secure than one in which they are upheld. A new chapter includes a discussion of domestic spying, preventive detention, the many court challenges to post-9/11 abuses, implementation of the PATRIOT ACT, and efforts to reestablish the checks and balances left behind in the rush to strengthen governmental powers.